Police are now offering a $1,000 reward for tips leading to the arrest of those responsible for shooting a man in the head in Fort Smith.
On Tuesday (August 14th), police received two calls to the 600 block of North 18th St.
According to Corporal Anthony Rice with the Fort Smith Police Department, they first were called about a man being beaten. Shortly after, he says they got a call about a man being shot.
Officers arrived on scene to see a man on the sidewalk with a bullet wound in the back of his head.
Police later identified the man shot as 25-year-old Trent Sanders.
5NEWS talked with two people who found him lying on the ground and acting erratically.
“We walked outside because we were getting ready to go to the house, and we saw a gentleman kind of rolling around there on the ground," said William Hitchcock. “At first I had thought he had gotten beat up because all I saw was that he had a crack right there, it looked like a crack and blood all over the ground.”
Hitchcock added that he knew Sanders, but when he saw him on the ground, Sanders was unrecognizable.
Since then, Sanders has undergone surgery. He is now in the hospital in stable condition.
Meanwhile, those who live close to the shooting tell 5NEWS they feel unsafe, especially those who have young children like Falan Allison.
“It’s scary. I don't want my kids outside playing anymore,” Allison said.
She would like to see police ramp-up their patrols in the area from now on to make the families in the area feel safer.
If you have information, call Fort Smith police or River Valley Crime Stoppers at 78-CRIME.